ripen 
The magistrates should (as far as might be) ripen their 
consultations beforehand, that their vote in public might 
bear (as the voice of (Joil). 
Winthrap, Hist. New England, I. 213. 
He did not ripen his plans, and in the rapidity of his 
work he was too easily contented with helping himself 
from the novels or the histories from which he took his 
plays to the scenes in the order In which he found them. 
The Century, XXXVIII. 828. 
3. To make fit or ready for use. 
They [pottery-clays] are worked by shallow pits, and are 
ripened, ground, and washed, as the other clays. 
Spans' Enetjc. Mantrf., I. 640. 
ripeness (rip'nes), . [< ME. *ripnes, < AS. 
ripncx, ripnys, < ripe, ripe: see ripe 1 .] The 
state of being ripe, in any sense. 
In man, the ripeness of strength of the body and mind 
cometh much about an age. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 16. 
Thou gav'st that ripeness which so soon began, 
And ceased so soon, he ne'er was boy nor man. 
Pope, Dunciad, iv. 287. 
When love is grown 
To ripeness, that on which it throve 
Falls off, and love is left alone. 
Tennyson, To J. S. 
rip-fishing (rip'fish"ing), . See fishing. 
Rlpi-. For words so beginning, see Bhipi-. 
ripicolous (ri-pik'o-lus), a. [< L. ripa, a bank, 
+ cnlere, inhabit.] In zool., riparian or ripa- 
rious. 
lipidolite (ri-pid'o-lit), . [< Gr. luirit; (parti-), 
a fan, + hidof, a stone.] The commonest mem- 
ber of the chlorite family of minerals, occur- 
ring in monoclinic crystals with micaceous 
cleavage, also scaly and granular, usually of a 
deep-green color, rarely rose-red. It is a hy- 
drous silicate of aluminium and magnesium. 
Also called clinochlore. 
ripienist (ri-pya'nist), n. [= F. ripieniste; as 
ripieno + -ist.] In music, one who plays a ri- 
pieno part; a supplementary or assisting in- 
strumentalist. 
ripieno (ri-pya'no), a. and n. [It., < L. re- + 
plenus, full: see plenty."} I. a. In music, sup- 
plementary. Specifically, noting an instrument or a 
performer who assists in tntti passages, merely doubling 
or reinforcing the part of the leading performers. 
II. n. PI. ripieni (-ne). Such an instrument 
or performer. In an orchestra, all the first violins, ex- 
cept the leader or concert-master, are ripieni. Opposed 
to principal or solo. 
ripierH (rip'i-er), n. See ripper 2 . 
ripier 2 (rip'i-er), . See ripper 1 , 3. 
ripon, rippon (rip'on), n. [< Ripon : see def .] 
1. A spur: so called from the excellence attrib- 
uted to the spurs made at Ripon, Yorkshire, 
England. Fairholt. 2. A sword or sword- 
blade named from Eipon. 
riposte (ri-posf), n. [< F. riposte, < It. risposta, 
a response, reply, < rispondere, respond: see 
respond.'] 1. In fencing, a quick, short thrust 
by a swordsman after parrying a lunge from 
his opponent: usually given without moving 
from tne spot, before the opponent has time to 
recover his position ov guard. 
The riposte in its simplest form is exactly analogous to 
a war of words a short, smart answer to an attack. 
H. A.. C. Dunn, Fencing, vi. 
Hence 2. A quick, smart reply ; a repartee. 
ripper 1 (rip'er), . [< rip 1 + -er 1 .] 1. One 
who or that which rips, tears, or cuts open ; a 
ripping-tool, (a) A tool used in shaping roofing-slates. 
(6) An implement for ripping seams in fabrics by cutting 
the stitches without injury to the cloth, (c) A machine 
with circular knives for cutting the millboards used in 
the making of cloth cases or covers for books. 
2. A very efficient person or thing; one who 
does great execution : as, he is a regular ripper. 
[Slang.] 3. A robber. BalliioeU (in the f orm 
ripier). See rip 1 , v. t., 5. [Prov. Eng.] 
ripper' 2 t (rip'er), n. [Also rippar, rippier, rip- 
ier, < OF. "ripier (?), < L. riparius, of or per- 
taining to the bank or coast: see riparian and 
river 2 . By some derived < rip'*, a basket, + -er 1 .] 
One who brings fish inland from the coast to 
market. 
But what 's the action we are for now, ha? 
Robbing a ripper of his fish ? 
Fletcher, Beggars' Bush, v. 1. 
I can send you speedier advertisement of her constancy 
by the next ripier that rides that way with mackrel. 
Chapman, Widow's Tears, ii. 
Also that all Ripiers, and other Fishers from any of the 
Sea-coasts, should sell their Fish in Cornhill and Cheap- 
side themselves, and not to Fishmongers that would buy 
to sell again. Baker, Chronicles, p. 164. 
ripper* (rip'er), H. [Perhaps a particular use of 
rijiper 1 .] A fog-horn. Also called Upper. [New- 
foundland.] 
ripping-bed (rip'iug-bed), >i. A machine for 
dividing stones by passing them on a travers- 
5191 
ing bed under a gang of saws. The saws have 
no teeth, but act by abrasion, which is facili- 
tated by the use of sand. 
ripping-chisel (rip'ing-chiz"el), n. In wotxl- 
irnrking, a bent chisel used in clearing out mor- 
tises, or for ripping the old oakum out of seams 
which need calking. 
ripping-iron (rip'ing-i"ern), n. A hook used by 
calkers for tearing old oakum out of seams. 
ripping-saw (rip'ing-sa), H. Same as rip-saw. 
ripple" (rip'l), [Early mod. E. or dial, also 
reeple, riple; = D. repel = MLG. repel, LG. repel, 
reppcl, a ripple, = OHG. rifila, a saw, MHG. rif- 
fel, a ripple, hoe, G. riff el, a ripple (G. riffel, riif- 
fel, a reproof, lit. a 'combing over,' is from the 
verb); with formative -le (-el, equiv. to -er 1 ), 
denoting an agent (as in ladle, stopple, beetle 1 , 
etc.), and equiv. to the simple form MD. MLG. 
LG. repe, a ripple, from the verb represented 
by MD. D. repen = MLG. repen, LG. repen, rep- 
pen = G. reffen, beat or ripple (flax), = Sw. repa 
(cf. MHG. reffen, pluck, pick, a secondary form 
of raffen, pluck, snatch, = E. rap 2 ); prob. con- 
nected with rap 2 , but in part at least associated 
with rip 1 , t\ Hence ripple 1 , v.] A large comb 
or hatchel for separating the seeds or capsules 
Ripple. 
a, toothed wheel ; *, chute into which the heads of unthreshed ma- 
terial are put ; f and rf, treadle and pitman by which the wheel is re- 
volved. 
from flax; also, in the United States, a toothed 
instrument for removing the seeds from broom- 
corn. 
feln, ripple (flax); from the noun: see ripple 1 , 
.] To clean or remove the seeds or capsules 
from, as from the stalks of flax. 
There must be ... rippling, braking, wingling, and 
heckling of hemp. 
Howell, Parly of Beasts, p. 14. (Davits, under brake.) 
ripple 2 ! (rip'l), v. t. [< ME. "ripelen, repulen; 
dim. or freq. (prob. confused with ripple 1 ): see 
rip 1 ."] To scratch or break slightly ; graze. 
And smote Gye wyth envye, 
And repvlde hys face and hys chynne, 
And of hys cheke all the skynne. 
MS. Cantab. Ff. ii. 38, f. 209. (Halliwell.) 
A horseman's javelin, having slightly rippled the skin of 
his [Julian's] left arm, pierced within his short ribs. 
Holland, tr. of Ammianus, p. 264. (Trench, Select Gloss.) 
ripple 3 (rip'l), v. ; pret. and pp. rippled, ppr. 
rippling. [A mod. var. of rimple, wrinkle, due 
appar. to confusion with rip 1 , ripple 2 : see rim- 
ple.] I. intrans. 1. To assume or wear a ruffled 
surface, as water when agitated by a gentle 
wind or by running over a stony bottom; be 
covered with small waves or undulations. 
Left the Keswick road, and turned to the left through 
shady lanes along the vale of [the] Eeman, which runs 
. . . rippling over the stones. 
Gray, To Dr. Wharton, Oct. 18, 1769. 
Thine eddy's rippling race 
Would blur the perfect image of his face. 
D. G. Rossetti, The Stream's Secret. 
2. To make a sound as of water running over 
a rough bottom: as, laughter rippling pleas- 
antly. 
Thy slender voice with rippliny trill 
The budding April bowers would fill. 
0. W. Holmes, An Old- Year Song. 
II. trails. 1. To fret or agitate lightly, as 
the surface of water; form in small waves or 
undulations; curl. 
Anon she shook her head, 
And shower'd the rippled ringlets to her knee. 
Tennyson, fJodiva. 
Like the lake, my serenity is rippled but not ruffled. 
Thoreau, Walden, p. 140. 
2. To mark with or as with ripples. See riji- 
p/C-IIKII'l,'. 
Some of the rippled rain-pitted beds contain amphibian 
foot-prints. A. Geikit, Encyc. Brit., X. 350. 
rip-saw 
ripple s (rip'l), n. [< ripjilc'-i, r.] 1. The light 
fretting or ruffling of the surface of water; a 
little curling wave; an undulation. 
He sees ... a tremor pass across her frame, like a rip- 
ple over water. Dickens, Bleak House, xxix. 
To watch the crisping ripples on the beach. 
Tennyson, The Lotos- Eaters, Choric Song. 
2. A sound like that of water running over a 
stony bottom: as, a ripple of laughter. =Syn. 1. 
See wave. 
ripple 4 (rip'l), n. [Origin obscure.] A small 
coppice. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
ripple 5 (rip'l), n. [Origin obscure.] A weak- 
ness in the back and loins, attended with shoot- 
ing pains : a form of tabes dorsualis, the same 
as Friedricli's ataxia (which see, under utaxia). 
[Scotch.] 
For warld's wasters, like poor cripples, 
Look blunt with poverty and ripples. 
Ramsay, Works, I. 143. (Jamieson.) 
ripple 6 (rip'l), . Same as rip 7 . 
ripple-barrel (rip'l-bar"el), n. Tneat., a drum 
covered with tinsel, which revolves behind a 
perforated drop, to produce the effect of light 
on water. 
ripple-grass (rip'1-gras), n. [Sc. ripple-girse, 
also ripplin-garss ; appar. < ripple 3 + grass, but 
cf. rib-grass.] The rib-grass or ribwort-plan- 
tain, Plantayo lanceolata. See plantain 1 . 
ripple-mark (rip'1-mark), . A wavy surface 
such as is often seen on sand, where it has been 
formed by the action of the wind, and which 
may have its origin in the motion of water as 
well as of air, or which is often a result of the 
combined action of the two. Examples of the 
former action of winds and waves may often be seen 
among the older sandy deposits where they happen to 
have been preserved by the consolidation of the material. 
These ripple-marks, with which are frequently associated 
sun-cracks and prints of rain or surf-drops, afford evidence 
of tidal and river action along gently sloping shores, and 
with markings of this kind are occasionally found traces 
of former life in the form of trails and tracks, as in the 
case of the Triassic sandstones of the Connecticut valley. 
ripple-marked (rip'1-miirkt), . Havingripple- 
marks. 
rippier (rip'ler), n. 1. One who ripples flax or 
hemp. 
Two ripplers sitting opposite each other, with the ma- 
chine between them, work at the same time. 
Encyc. Brit., IX. 294. 
2. An apparatus for rippling flax or hemp. 
The best rippier . . . consists of a kind of comb having, 
set in a wooden frame, iron teeth ... 18 inches long. 
Encyc. Brit., IX. 294. 
ripplet (rip'let), n. [< ripple 3 + -et."] A small 
ripple, 
rippling (rip'ling), H. [Verbal n. of ripple 3 , v.] 
An eddy caused by conflicting currents or tides ; 
a tide-rip. 
ripplingly (rip'ling-li), adv. In an undulating 
manner ; so as to ripple : as, the stream ran rip- 
ipply (rip'li), a. [< ripple 3 + -y 1 .] 
characterized by ripples. [Rare.] 
] Rippling; 
And whatever of life hath ebbed away 
Conies flooding back with a ripply cheer, 
Into every bare inlet and creek and bay. 
Lowell, Sir Launfal, i. 
rippon, n. See ripon. 
riprap (rip'rap), n. [Usually in plural (orig. 
appar. sing. ) ripraps ; appar. < Dan. rips-raps, 
riffraff, rubbish, refuse, a form prob. due to the 
same source as E. riffraff: see riffraff.] In en- 
f/in.: (a) Broken stones used for walls, beds, 
and foundations: sometimes used attributively. 
After the vertical piles are driven, cobble stones, gravel, 
and riprap are put in place around them. 
Sci. Amer., N. S., LX. 261. 
The shore below the landing is a line of broken, ragged, 
slimy rocks, as if they had been dumped there for a rip- 
rap wall. C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 120. 
(/)) A foundation or parapet of stones thrown 
together without any attempt at regular struc- 
tural arrangement, as in deep water or on a soft 
bottom. 
riprapped (rip'rapt), o. [< riprap + -ed 2 .] 
Formed of or strengthened with riprap. 
The dam is made of clay, and is 720 feet long. . . . The 
front is riprapped. Sci. Amer., N. S., LXII. 167. 
whale, 
:e man- 
ripsack (rip'sak), n. The California gray 
fiachianectes glaucus : so called from th< 
ner of flensing. 
ripsack (rip'sak), r. /. [< ripxai-k. .] To pur- 
sue or capture the ripsack. 
rip-saw (rip'sa), H. A hand-saw the teetli of 
which have more rake and less set than a cross- 
cut saw, used for cutting wood in the direction 
of the grain. [U. S.] 
